Mamod is a British toy manufacturer, who specializes in manufacturing live steam models. The company was founded in Birmingham by Geoffrey Malins in 1937. The name is a portmanteau of Malins Models. The first models produced were of stationary steam engines, originally sold under the 'Hobbies' brand name. Malins soon switched to selling them under the name 'Mamod'. The company later began creating models of road rollers, traction engines, steam wagons, and other steam road vehicles. These models were aimed at the toy market, so they were simple to operate and ran at low boiler pressures for safety but were not accurate scale models.